The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1887-04-28

philanthropically, upon new lines, and
wish to make themselves acquainted with
the practical side Of the subject.
There is nothing more necessary than
this. Social problems become infinitely
more complicated than they need to be,
because women fail to adapt themselves
to the new order which succeeds the old.
The vexed question of the servant girl
h an example of this. All house.
holds are still q part Of the feudal system,
and they are Its only relic and rep
resentative. The household-worker 1s
still the servant" (serf), having no inde-
pendent life, and being still an append
age, q part of the state of the family
with whom he or she lives. The "fam.
lily" still resents the idea that the SER
want can In any sense be considered On
equal. She must remain, in certain
way, under bonds; she must be at beck
and call from early morning till late at
night. She must be willing to remain in
or 20 out at all hours, and for all sorts
of purposes and errands, sometimes be-
ing sent at ten o'clock at night to fetch
beer, sometimes to do duty as escort.
What would be most shocking and i'm
proper for the young daughter Of the
house Is matter of course and set down
as part of the duty of the young and
pretty servant girl. A warm room, ex-
cept the kitchen, time to sew, to read,
to rest, are rarely thought of as part of
the girls" needs. 6heis If q "treasure"
which occasionally she is admitted to
be-simply an accomplishing drudge.
These conditions have changed in every
department of labor, except household
service, and they are bound to change in
this field also. Only that the majority
of American servants are Of foreign
birth, ignorant, and either accustomed to
worse treatment at home or willing to
accept what offers as stepping-stone to
better things, such a system could not
have lasted so long.
Granted that the majority are better
of than where they came from; that the
apprenticeship they serve in families OF
good preparation for future, the facts
will not prevent the precipitation of
new order in the near future. In fact, we
have been suffering from the throes and
commissions incident to it for some time.
Household service is not to be relied
upon-not under present circumstances
1t Is one of two alternatives that pre-.
sents itself--homes and wages of excep.
tional comfort and liberty as induce.
ments, or q struggle with dense ignor.
ance and irreconcilable differences. In
the former instances the imminent ma.
ture of the coming conflict is not realized,
but the latter cases are in the majority,
and cause the friction of which we see
and hear so much.
The remedies suggested show how little
knowledge exists of the real nature of
the trouble. Worth in the household is
beginning to make the same demand
feel the same spirit of independence that
actuates 1t elsewhere-and a new domes-
tic order in some respects is bound to
grow out of 1t. Some housekeepers are
setting themselves to solve the new
problem-meet the impending changes
and the more do this the better it will be
for them. Whether it be advantageous
or not to the employer is not the
question; it is inevitable. 1t will be at
least well for those, both men and women,
to consider how many natural burdens,
how much of the disagreeable response.
bility of daily life has been put upon
girls" upon women servants, for the
housing and certain number of dollars
per month they have received.
A mans work stops at set of sun,
A wOman's work is never done.
Wives have accepted this state of
affairs, worked and continued to work
sixteen hours per day instead of the
eight required for men. But will house.
hold servants continue to work twelve,
fourteen and sixteen hours per day, ris-
ing at six and often working until ten at
night, and always required to be on call
between these hours, excepting, perhaps,
for a couple of hours once in the week
Nurses have changed the whole aspect
of affairs by system of training and
exacting high price for their services.
Why may not the general house servantp
The nurse, at SEQ per week and her
board and washing, is not always an
agreeable person to have about; never
theless, doctors demand her, because she
can take directions intelligently, knows
how to make and apply poultice, and
what Is needed in an emergency. Most
women, as a matter of choice, would
rather have an intelligent, helpful friend
than trained nurse in sickness; but
friends" are not SO available since high
money value has been put upon such
services; and you cannot help thinking,
and cannot help knowing, that they are
thinking that the services they render
are worth just SO much in cash to them
and to you; and as the obligation will
remain, 1t is generally preferable to have
1t take business shape, and discharge it
in business way.
1t Is q little curious that we write and
talk about the ''working-class" and "ser-
vant-class" in this country, as If they
were fixed quantities. In reality we
have no "classes," for the expert work
man of to-day is the master workman
to-morrow-and his children are the
millionaires of the next generation. The
servant girl who marries the clever
workman shares his fortune; II she mar
ries poor one she naturally marries pow
erty and misfortune, and has to help, like
the community at large, to support them.
Housekeepers must get the idea out
of their heads that any "class" has
been created for their behOof and benefit.
If they pay low wages and require length
of hours and days they must be content
with ignorance, and willing to train 1t
into cOmpetence-content, too, when 1t
becomes competence, to see 1t go where
it can secure better pay.
Mothers must return to first principles
and teach their daughters to take share
in household duties. There never was a
time when intelligence and care were
more needed in the performance of house.
hold labor than nowhere never was q
time when less of both were put into 1t.
Our houses are full of complicated ma
chinery and decorative articles that re-
quire much time and gentle handling for
their preservation and adjustment-yet
the whole, with the cooking, washing